Upper Valley Quilts of Valor presents first quilt to U.S. Air Force Major Fred Shannon

LEAVENWORTH – The recently formed Upper Valley Quilts of Valor chapter awarded its first quilt to retired U.S. Air Force Major Fred Shannon at the Chumstick Grange Hall on March 19.

The chapter, started by local residents Carol Cade and Brenda Reagan, is part of a larger foundation that aims to “cover Service Members and Veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.” To date, the Quilts of Valor Foundation has presented 405,649 quilts handmade by members in over 600 chapters nationwide.

“It's [a way] to honor my first husband who was a Marine, and we've had family members that have been in the Marine Corps, so it's a way to honor relatives,” said Cade, designated ‘Group Leader’ of the Upper Valley chapter.

Cade presented the quilt to Shannon during a small ceremony with his three children, community members, and fellow veterans in attendance.

“We are here today to express our sincere gratitude and deep appreciation for your years of service and sacrifice during the Vietnam War, your courage and dedication to our country are truly commendable, and we are forever in your debt,” said Cade.

Shannon enlisted in the Air Force in 1951, eventually becoming an aircraft electrician. He worked on the B-36 deployment and recovery program for in-flight cover aircraft, before inflight refueling was feasible. Later, he earned his navigator wings and became an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO), a role that specializes in radar detection and countermeasures. 

After a tour as an EWO instructor, he was assigned as an EWO in the Strategic Air Command aboard B-52 bombers, flying Cold War deterrent "bombing" missions. By 1967, he was a captain, and was deployed to Vietnam as an EWO on Wild Weasel anti-aircraft suppression missions.

During the ceremony, retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Mike Worden, who was a Wild Weasel pilot in subsequent wars, explained the historical significance and legacy of the first generation of Wild Weasels.

“There's probably no specific mission more dangerous…than the Wild Weasel pilots. And I’m really proud to be a kind of descendant of [Shannon]…It takes a lot of courage to go in, and then the walls of missiles start coming up. And nobody, nobody goes without the Weasels right up front. They go in first, and they suppress all the defenses,” said Worden.

The Wild Weasel missions were an unprecedented strategy created to combat the new surface-to-air missile (SAM) technology that took out U.S. aircrafts en masse over North Vietnam. 

As an EWO, Shannon was placed in the backseat of a modified two-seat fighter jet, with a pilot in the front. The Wild Weasels would enter enemy territory first, intentionally provoking the SAM sites in order to activate their radar and expose their locations. Once the EWO detected the radar, they would guide the pilot to launch anti-radiation missiles at the threat before it could strike them. Through the cat-and-mouse mission, the Wild Weasels placed themselves in the path of risk in order to neutralize the threat for other aircraft.

During the war, Shannon famously led a Wild Weasel flight with his pilot, Lt. Col. James McInerney, in the first air strike against the heavily defended Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi, North Vietnam. The two suppressed six active SAM sites while dodging anti-aircraft artillery fire and three missile launches. As a result, not a single aircraft was lost. Shannon and McInerney were awarded an Air Force Cross, the second highest military decoration, for the mission.

“His generation found some brave few people that would go do this, and actually take a huge threat out that had been unprecedented in history,” said Worden. “Now it's worldwide. Foreign countries won’t even go in without American Wild Weasel pilots first.”

Worden commended Shannon’s bravery, expressing gratitude for his role in the development of a strategy that continues to be used by the Air Force.

“It's an honor to be associated with the development of the program that's continued from the past 55 years or so…As the General mentioned, it's a very important part of the air battle today,” said Shannon.

During his time in Vietnam, Shannon was also awarded three Silver Star awards and five Distinguished Flying Crosses for his acts of bravery and heroism. His tour ended after he ejected from an F-105 due to an engine fire, breaking his hip. After his recovery, Shannon was an EWO instructor at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, and later served as an F-111 EWO at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. He retired in 1973.

Shannon, now a 93-year-old East Wenatchee resident, was nominated by his son, Larry Shannon, who learned about the Quilts of Valor through his own nomination.

“I nominated him for the quilt because he went through quite a bit during his time in Vietnam…I can remember when I first joined the Marine Corps at the end of the Vietnam War. There was a lot of negative publicity about military people in Vietnam. So, Quilts of Valor is a great way of supporting our veterans,” said Larry Shannon.

The Upper Valley Quilts of Valor plans to have an information meeting for prospective members at 10 a.m. on April 16 at the Leavenworth Firehall, located at 228 Chumstick Highway.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media